At one side of the large concrete Hoa Binh Market in Ho
Chi Minh City's District 5 sits an “illegal market,” where vendors set up
small light bulbs over their produce and meat and loop wires over the large
umbrellas. On special occasions like public holidays, police may chase away
or even arrest the several dozen of these vendors. Sometimes, goods are
confiscated. But that's not their only problem now.

Khanh works 16 hours a day and says she takes home between
100,000VND to 200,000VND (about $5 to $10). She says her husband helps her
out at work, while their sons work at local factories. They still live at
home, she says, because rent is too expensive for them to afford their own
places.

Official figures are vague, but locals say strikes have
been an increasing at factories over low wages and poor working conditions.
Worries over wages have been exacerbated by spiraling inflation in recent years.
Inflation peaked at 23 percent last August, before dropping to 18 percent at
the beginning of 2012. But it was still stuck at more than 8 percent last
month. Economic growth, meanwhile, has dipped again and is unlikely to
surpass 5.2 percent this year , according to the government.

The government is responding with plans for major reforms
in three key sectors: the sluggish state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector, the
banking sector and public investment. SOEs have lost money hand over fist for
years. Indeed, state-owned shipping company Vinalines, which was said by
state-owned media to have “wasted” a billion dollars, is only the most
glaring example of many. Three of the firm's executives have been arrested in
a sector estimated to make up as much as 40 percent of the economy.

Vietnam's national shipbuilder Vinashin, meanwhile, has
flirted with bankruptcy after years of mismanagement. One of the problems
identified was movement into “non-core” sectors, such as hotel management.

In a recent report to the country's main legislative body
– the National Assembly – the government said SOEs cut spending by close to
$660 million over five years, ending late last year, according to local news.

However, government officials are increasingly concerned
at the massive losses of state money. Ho Chi Minh City NA representative Do
Van Duong, for example, told Thanh Nien News : “It's time to investigate
investments that cause huge losses of state money and hold accountable those
responsible.” He said that the recent Vinashin and Vinalines cases were
indicative of poor management of the sector.

Companies are now supposed to be required to publish
earnings, though the plan is in its initial stages. But whatever the
government says, it seems doubtful that real reform will happen anytime soon
as SOEs resist change, foreign investment or restructuring. In addition, many
(quietly) complain that government regulations ensure a large workforce in
the state sector and free services for the poor, a problem, they lament, when
trying to improve efficiency.

Last year, a number of local economists called the
proposed changes the biggest since doi moi, the policy begun in 1986 that
reopened the isolationist communist nation's economy, and a move that has
been credited by many analysts as the real driving force behind the rapid
economic growth of the past two decades.

Some observers, though, are skeptical about such talk. “Oh
I'd love to see that,” says former US ambassador to Hanoi, Douglas “Pete”
Peterson as talk of the comparisons with doi moi are broached in an
interview. Peterson, who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, was
the first post-war US ambassador to Vietnam, serving from 1997 to 2001. “Doi
Moi was a one-off, a massive decision, but it paid off in just about every
way.”

And there were, he says, some immediate gains from the
policy. “It stopped people starving. It gave farmers back land, productivity
surged overnight and you had food security. People were starving to death in
the street [before the reform],” Peterson says.

“[October's numbers] were the lowest I've ever seen,” says
Richard Burrage, a managing partner with the firm, adding that such falls
usually follow quickly after a hike in petrol prices. From last April to
March of this year, both the food consumer index and petrol prices have
climbed steadily.

But gas prices aren't the only indicator that analysts
keep an eye on – cell phone sales are seen as another unofficial way of
gauging consumer confidence across the country. Vietnam has a large number of
cell phone users; most young people own several of them.

Truong Thi Ai Chau, 30, has been managing the same cell
phone shop in Ho Chi Minh City for six years. But she says things are getting
harder, and not just because supermarkets are now undercutting smaller
retailers.

Jonathan Pincus, a Harvard economist who has taught in
Vietnam for more than eight years, believes that though the Communist Party
has accurately identified the three areas in need of serious reform, the
problem of what to actually do remains.

“There's a lack of consensus on how to proceed,” he says.
“I don't think its ideological disagreement,” among party members. Rather, he
suggests, it's competing special interest groups that are creating the
divisions.

Party dealings range somewhere on the scale from opaque to
impenetrable for many outsiders. However, in the past, what has leaked out
has suggested rifts in the party and government between old school hardliners
and modernizers.

This time, though, it may have more to do with differing
commercial interests between SOEs and others. Certainly, after highly visible
government announcements last year, some press reports were critical of
“special interests” for resisting major reforms in the SOE sector.

Vietnam's economy had been rushing ahead in the decade
that followed the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s, a crisis that
threatened to derail the advances under doi moi. For the past five years,
though, the economy has been spinning through cycles of boom and bust.

In mid-April, the outspoken 79-year-old former novelist
stunned the central government by saying the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
plans to buy some of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, administered
by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan.

The controversial announcement — coming in a speech at the
Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington — was widely
interpreted as trying to goad the central government into taking control of
the privately owned islands.

Some analysts, however, say Ishihara was not merely aiming
his comments at a Japanese audience and that he wanted to prompt nations
squaring off against China to make more efforts to bolster ties with the
United States to ensure maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ishihara's announcement at least increased public
awareness of the Senkaku issue, helping the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
receive more than ¥950 million in donations from people as of the end of May
to buy three of the uninhabited islets from a Saitama businessman who
technically holds title to them.

The Japan-U.S. security treaty would be "invoked
immediately" if China launches military action near the Senkakus,
Ishihara said at a news conference in Tokyo in late April, emphasizing that
the disputed islands are an integral part of Japanese territory.

It is obvious that Ishihara is keeping in mind that U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton confirmed in September 2010 that
the Senkaku Islands are covered by the treaty, which allows for Washington to
retaliate against a military strike on Japanese territory.

In his 1989 book "The Japan That Can Say No,"
which he coauthored with the late Sony Corp. Chairman Akio Morita, Ishihara
said Japan should tell the United States that it can protect itself. But
Ishihara, who has called Japan "America's mistress," now appears to
be aware that it is impossible to counter China's military buildup without
U.S. support.

As Japan's power is weakening in every field, including
the economy and defense, "Mr. Ishihara seems to be considering how to
drag the United States" into maritime confrontations with China, said
Takashi Kawakami, a professor at Takushoku University.

Ishihara's change of heart underscores that countries
competing with China — in particular Japan but also the Philippines and
Vietnam, two nations displeased with Beijing's claims in the South China Sea
— are being forced into growing more dependent on the United States.

Chinese boats have been repeatedly spotted in a contiguous
zone near the Senkakus in the East China Sea, while Philippine and Chinese
ships have recently been locked in a standoff in the South China Sea.

Beijing has referred to the waters as being part of
"China's core interests," the expression it uses for Taiwan and
other territorial problems where independence sentiment continues to smolder,
fanning fears about China's military rise.

Washington, meanwhile, is strategically shifting its
military focus to the Asia-Pacific region, believing stability in the area
could help boost economic growth there, which in turn could have a favorable
effect on America's economy.

"U.S. interests clearly coincide with those of
nations in the Asia-Pacific region frustrated by China," Kawakami said.
"The United States could strengthen relations with anti-China countries
further, which would change the security situation in the region."

Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam, the latter
of which actually battled China in the South China Sea in the 1980s, have
conducted joint drills with the U.S. Navy, apparently aiming to enhance
deterrence with an eye on China.

Other analysts say Ishihara has also indicated Japan
should take the initiative in reinforcing its alliance with the United States
as a way to hamper China's ambitions for dominance, and that Southeast Asian
nations expect Japan to do so.

China, Taiwan and four Southeast Asian nations — Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — have conflicting territorial and
maritime claims over parts or all of about 100 islands, atolls, reefs and
cays believed to sit atop vast natural oil and gas deposits.

For Japan, stability in the South China Sea is "very
important too," because oil the country imports from the Middle East is
carried through the disputed waters, said Tomohito Shinoda, a professor at
the International University of Japan.

To prevent China from expanding its maritime activities
further, it is "appropriate" for Japan to bolster ties with other
countries, including Southeast Asian nations, centered on the Japan-U.S.
alliance, Shinoda said.

"As I recall, Shintaro has said he can sing better
than Yujiro," said a former TV worker in Tokyo. "His new song for
the United States could have a certain impact on security in the Asia-Pacific
region."

- You two choose your rooms. I'll
have Maria come and help you unpack.

- What do you think of it, Maria?The new house.

- It's not for me to say.

- But it won't feel like home until
we make it feel like home, will it?

- Is he already up?

- Who was that?

- One of your father's soldiers, I
suppose.

- He looked very serious.

- Well, they are, aren't they?

- Why are we whispering?

- I don't know.

- And play with who?

- The children over on the farm.

- Farm? I didn't see a farm. And
that one, too.

- You can only see it from my
room.

- And there are some children
there?

- Yes, quite a few.

- That's good.

- So, I'll be able to play with
them.

- I don't see why not.

- I'll wait a little bit, just to
see what they're like, because they look a bit strange.

- The children do?

- Well, and the farmers.

- What sort of strange?

- I'm sorry.

- Vegetables.

- There.

- Bruno, have you unpacked
everything?

- Because I think you should go
back upstairs and finish off.

- Thank you, ma'am.

- Bruno.

- I told you they were strange.

- Who?

- The farmers. They wear pyjamas.

- Bruno, I was just coming to look
for you.

- Well, thank you for that. That
was extremely useful.

- I'll be over to see you later.

- Of course, Herr Kommandant.

- Come in.

- Sit down, sit down.

- Well, what do you think?

- Oh, dear.

- I want to go home.

- You are home, Bruno. Home is
where the family is.

- Isn't that right?

- Bruno, you have to at least give
the place a chance.

- I promise you, it won't be long
before you...

- Why do the farmers wear pyjamas?

I can see them from my window.

- The thing is, Bruno, those
people...

- Well, you see, they're not
really people at all.

- Bruno, who told you it was a
farm?

- Was it Maria?

- No.

- It is a farm, isn't it?

- Yes.

- Is it to do with your new job?

- All you need to know about my
work here, Bruno, is that it's very important to our country and to you.

- We're working very hard to make
this world a better place for you to grow up in.

- But you're not a farmer. You're
a soldier.

- Bruno, can you come and help me finish
sorting out in the kitchen?

- I can still play with them,
though? The children.

- I don't think so, Bruno. No.

- Like you say, they're a bit
strange. A bit...

- Well, they're different.

- Don't worry, my darling. We'll
find you some new friends, but they won't be the ones from the farm.

- Ralf, you promised.

- You said it was miles away.

- It is.

- How was I to know he could see
it from the bedroom window?

- There was one of them in our
kitchen.

- Master Bruno, how are you today?

- Fed up.

- You said the same thing every
day for two whole weeks.

- It's true.

- Well, you should be out playing.

- Playing with who?

- I don't know. Gretel?

- Well, you can make your own fun.

- That's what I'm trying to do.

- One thing's for sure, sitting
around being miserable won't make things any happier.

- Bruno, what are you doing?

- Exploring!

- No! No, not in the back. I told
you, it's out of bounds.

- Explore at the front. - But I've
explored it all.

- Well, find something else to do.

- Like what?

- Come back in now, and we'll
think of something.

- So, children, what are you doing
today?

- Same as yesterday.

- And what was that?

- Same as the day before.

- Except you went exploring.

- I like exploring.

- Where did you go?

- I wanted to look in the back
garden, but Mum wouldn't let me.

- The back garden?

- Well, God forbid.

- I expect you'll be missing those
friends of yours.

- I even miss school.

- Well, I never thought I'd hear
you say that.

- Anyway, you won't be missing it for
long.

- Really?

- I've arranged a tutor for you
both.

- A Herr Liszt will be visiting
twice a week.

- So we're not going to school?

- School's coming here?

- On an old bicycle, I gather.

- It's a bird without the...

- Good morning, little man. And
how are you this morning?

- Can I ask you a favour?

- Well, you can ask.

- Are there any spare tyres
around?

- An old one from one of the
trucks or something?

- Well, the only spare tyre I've
seen around here belongs to Lieutenant
Meinberg.

- Well, is he using it?

- Yes, he's very attached to it.

- Stop it. He doesn't understand. He's
only eight.

- You're only, so stop pretending
you're any older.

- What do you want a tyre for,
anyway?

- I want to make a swing.

- A swing?

- That does sound exciting.

- You!

- Here, now.

- Move!

- Take this boy to the outhouse in
the back garden.

- There are some tyres in there. He
will select one.

- You will carry it where he asks.
Do you understand?

- Well, little man, what are you
waiting for?

- How about this one?

- Where's my mum?

- She's out.

- When is she back?

- Soon, I expect.

- But don't worry.

- But I might bleed to death.

- No, you won't.

- Will I need to go to hospital?

- No. It's only a small cut.

- Come on. It's not that bad.

- There, all better.

- What's your name?

- Pavel.

- Now, you've got to sit still for
a few minutes before you start walking around on that again.

- Will you tell my mum what
happened?

- I think she's going to see it
for herself.

- She'll probably take me to a
doctor.

- I don't think so.

- It could be worse than it looks.

- It isn't.

- How would you know? You're not a
doctor.

- Yes, I am.

- No, you're not.

- You peel potatoes.

- I practised as a doctor.

- Before I...

- Before I came here.

- You couldn't have been much good
then, if you had to practise.

- Now, what are you going to be when
you grow up?

- I know. An explorer.

- How do you know that?

- Is it nice on the farm?

- Bruno. Bruno, what happened to
you?

- I made a swing, but I fell off
it and cut my knee.

- But Pavel here, he carried me in
and put a bandage on it.

- Go to your room.

- But Pavel says I...

- Don't argue. Go to your room.

- Thank you.

- It's not fair, you having this
view.

- Well, I'm not swapping.

- I think school's here.

- No, I mean more recent history.

- Are you interested in current
affairs?

- Yes, very.

- So, you'll be aware of the
situation in which our great nation presently finds itself.

- Yes. I read newspapers whenever
I can and one of Father's men keeps me up to date on everything that's happening.

- Good. And you, Bruno. Have you
been reading newspapers?

- Have you been reading anything?

- Books.

- Good. What sort of books?

- Adventure books, mainly.

- You know, knights in shining
armour, exploring strange lands and stuff, and silly princesses always
getting in the way.

- Well, this is why I'm here to
help. You're how old now, Bruno? Eight?

- Time to get your head out of
those fiction books and start learning about fact.

- Time, I think, to turn your mind
to the real world, and I believe this would be the perfect start.

- Die, die!

- Die, die.

- Hello.

- I'm exploring.

- What are you doing?

- We're... We're building a new
hut.

- Have you got lots of friends
over there?

- A few. But we fight a lot.

- That's why I like being out here.
I can be on my own.

- I'm Bruno.

- Shmuel.

- - Sorry?

- I'm Shmuel.

- That's your name? Never heard of
anyone called that before.

- I've never heard of anyone
called Bruno.

- But Shmuel. No one's called
Shmuel.

- I live in the house, back there.

- Have you got any food on you?

- No.

- Are you hungry?

- How old are you?

- Eight.

- Me, too!

- It's not fair, me being stuck
over here on my own, while you're over there, playing with friends all day.

- Playing?

- Well, that number.

- Isn't it a part of a game or
something?

- It's just my number.

- Everyone gets given a different
number.

- Right. Then what happens?

- I have to go back now!

- Really?

- Yeah.

- It was nice to meet you, Shmuel.

- And you, Bruno.

- Bye.

- Mum, I can't find my football.

- Well, it'll be in one of your
cupboards, sweet.

- It isn't. I've looked.

- Can I have a piece of chocolate?

- A piece. Yes.

- Bruno?

- Have you looked in the cellar?

- The cellar?

- For your football.

- Damn.

- Gretel, I've just seen all
your...

- All my what?

- All your dolls, down in the
cellar.

- Dolls are for little girls.

- It's not right to play with
silly toys while people are away risking their lives for the Fatherland.

- "My people's density is my
density."

- Destiny.

- "Its struggles and its
sorrows, its joys and its miseries are mine.

- "I must work and create for
the resurrection of my Fatherland.

- "The history of my people is
great and glorious."

- And it's :

- I'm sorry?

- Isn't that when we finish?

- The termination of the lesson is
for the tutor to decide, Bruno, not the pupil. Now, will you please continue.

- Bruno, there you are.

- I'm just going into town for an
hour. Do you want to come?

- You be careful on that thing.

- Thank you.

- Can I ask you something?

- Why do you people wear pyjamas
all day?

- They're not pyjamas.

- Well, those.

- We have to. They took all our
other clothes away.

- Who did?

- The soldiers.

- The soldiers? Why?

- I don't like soldiers. Do you?

- I do, quite. My dad's a soldier,
but not the sort that takes people's clothes away for no reason.

- What sort, then?

- Well, he's the important sort.

- He's in charge of making everything
better for everyone.

- So is your dad a farmer?

- No, he's a watchmaker.

- Or was. Most of the time now, he
just mends boots.

- It's funny how grown-ups can't
make their minds up about what they want to do. It's like Pavel.

- Do you know him? Lives over
there.

- He used to be a doctor, but gave
it all up to peel potatoes.

- Can I ask you another question?

- What do you burn in those
chimneys?

- I saw them going the other day. Is
it just lots of hay and stuff?

- I don't know. We're not allowed
over there.

- Mama says it's old clothes.

- Well, whatever it is, it smells
horrid.

- I wish you'd remembered the
chocolate.

- Yes, I'm sorry.

- I know! Perhaps you can come and
have supper with us sometime.

- I can't, can I? Because of this.

- But that's to stop the animals
getting out, isn't it?

- Animals? No, it's to stop people
getting out.

- Are you not allowed out?

- Why? What have you done?

- I'm a Jew.

- I think I should go now.

- Will you be here tomorrow?

- I'll try.

- Goodbye, then!

- Bye.

- Little present, sweetheart.

- Thank you, Mummy.

- Have you seen Bruno?

- Outside on his swing, I think.

- Yes, Thursday's perfect.

I'll have a car come to collect
you both.

- Are Grandma and Grandpa coming?

- Hey, did you smell that horrible
smell the other day?

- Coming from the chimneys.

- What sort of ill?

- The day I fell off the swing.

- Did you smell it, Mum?

- Father.

- Mum.

- Let me speak to her.

- Yes, she is. I can hear her.

- Yes. We look forward to it.
Goodbye.

- Is Grandma not coming?

- No.

- She's poorly, apparently, but
Grandpa's coming.

- Did you smell it, Dad?

- What?

- That horrid smell from the
chimneys. What is it?

- I think they just burn rubbishthere
sometimes.

- Look.

- What?

- Hey!

- Gretel.

- Hey, that's not fair!

- Gretel.

- What?

- It's only a game.

- Ralf, this tutor you brought in,
does he usually teach children as young as Gretel and Bruno?

- I believe so. Why?

- Well, do we know what he's
teaching them?

- Gretel seems to have become
so...

- They're being taught what all
children are being taught at the moment.

- They mustn't get left behind.

- Come on.

- Let's get to bed.

- "The Jew slandered us and
incited our enemies.

- "The Jew corrupted us through
bad books.

- "He mocked our literature
and our music.

- "Everywhere, his influence was
destructive, "the eventual result of which was our nation's collapse,

- "and then..."

- Yes, Bruno.

- I don't understand.

- A nation's collapse is all down
to this one man?

- The Jew here means the entire
Jewish race.

- If it had been just one man, I'm
sure something would've been done about him.

- There is such a thing as a nice
Jew, though, isn't there?

- I think, Bruno, if you ever
found a nice Jew, you would be the best explorer in the world.

- Continue, Gretel.

- "The aim of the Jew is to
become the ruler of humanity. "He is the enemy of culture. "Thousands
of Germans have been made poor by the Jew."

- Master Bruno.

- What are you doing? You've just had
your lunch, haven't you?

- I was going for a walk, and I
thought I might get peckish.

- But don't make a mess of your
satchel. Bring it here.

- I'll wrap it properly for you.

- No. It's none of your business.

- Bruno, what is it?

- What are you doing with your
satchel?

- Liszt gave us some books. I'm
going out on the swing to read.

- Let me see.

- What?

- The books.

- No.

- Bruno, I just want to see what
booksLiszt has given you.

- I told a lie.

- What?

- I've just got adventure books.

- Go on. Off you go, then.

- Now, Maria, there's two extra
for supper tonight.

- The Kommandant's father will be
here, and I believe Lieutenant Kotler is joining us.

- Here.

- What's the matter?

- Don't throw it back.

- What? Why not?

- It's dangerous.

- Dangerous?

- It's just a ball. Come on.

- Do you not like playing?

- Just not ball games?

- Not here.

- Tell me how the number game
works.

- I told you, it's not a game.

- We just all have numbers.

- Shmuel!

- Bruno! What are you doing?

- My ball went over. I was just
getting it back.

- They smell even worse when they
burn, don't they?

- What?

- But, surely you...

- Elsa, I was sworn to secrecy.

- From your own wife.

- Yes.

- I took an oath upon my life. Do
you understand?

- Elsa, you believe in this, too.

- You want this country to be
strong...

- No, Ralf, no! No, not that!

- How can you...

- Because I'm a soldier.

- How can you...

- Soldiers fight wars.

- That isn't war!

- It's a part of it! It's a vital
part of it!

- The Fatherland we all desire, all
of us, you included, cannot be achieved

without work such as this!

- Elsa. Elsa.

- Get away from me! Get away from
me!

- Grandpa's here.

- I don't believe this.

- Grandpa's here.

- We'll be through in a moment.

- Who told you about this?

- How's Grandma?

- She's a bit under the weather, I'm
afraid.

- It's a shame, she was so much looking
forward to seeing you.

- Perhaps next time, if she feels
up to it.

- Absolutely.

- You know, Ralf, your mother
really is sick.

- She's been talking about this
visitfor weeks.

- Maybe that's what's made her
sick.

- So, your father tells me that
you've got a tutor.

- Yes. He's nice.

- But he won't let us read any
adventure books.

- All we do is boring, old
history.

- Let me tell you something, young
man.

- If it wasn't for history, we
wouldn't all be sitting around this table.

- The work your father is doing
here, history in the making.

- When I was your age, history was
my favourite subject by miles, which obviously didn't please my father.

- Why not?

- Well, he was a professor of
literature at the university.

- Really, does he still teach?

- I don't really know.

- You don't know?

- We're not in touch, my father
and I. He left the country some time ago.

- Really, when?

- About four years ago, Herr
Kommandant.

- But surely he can't be very old.
What is he, still in his late 40s?

- Where did he go? Lieutenant
Kotler, your father, the professor of literature, where did he go?

- I believe it was Switzerland,
Kommandant.

- How strange that he should
choose to leave the Fatherland at the very moment it needed him most. Just
when we're all required to play our part in the national revival.

- More wine!

- What reason did he give? Was he
tubercular?

- Did he go there to take the air?

- I'm afraid I really don't know,
Kommandant.

- You'd have to ask him.

- Well, that would be rather
difficult, wouldn't it?

- With him being in Switzerland.

- Come on!

- What's the matter with you
tonight?

- Yes, perhaps that was it. Perhaps
he was ill.

- Unless, of course, he had
disagreements.

- I mean, with government policy.

- One hears of such men.

- Disturbed, most of them, or just
plain cowards.

- Even so, all of them traitors.

- Absolutely right.

- Presumably, if that was the case
with your father, you will have informed your superiors,

as is your duty. Lieutenant
Kotler!

- You cretin Jew! Filth!

- Ralf!

- Jew!

- But Dad just sat there.

- What did you expect him to do?

- The Jew deserved it.

- Can I ask you something about
the farm?

- Bruno, you don't still think
it's a farm, do you?

- It's a camp. What's called a
work camp.

- For Jews, obviously.

- Just Jews?

- Because they're the best
workers?

- They're not in there because
they're good, silly.

- They're no good at anything.

- They're in there because they're
evil.

- They're the enemy.

- The enemy?

- But I thought we were fighting...

- They're evil, Bruno.

- Evil, dangerous vermin.

- They're the reason we lost the
Great War.

- Haven't you been listening to
anything Liszt has been telling us?

- No. Not really.

- Dad's not horrible, is he?

- He's a good man.

- Of course, he is.

- But he's in charge of a horrible
place.

- It's only horrible for them,
Bruno.

- We should be proud of Dad, now
more than ever before.

- He's making the country great
again.

- Like you say they're a bit strange.
A bit...

- Well, they're different.

- They're the enemy, Bruno.

- Evil, dangerous vermin.

- Well, you see, they're not
really people at all.

- What are you doing here?

- They wanted someone with tiny
fingers to clean all these.

- We're not supposed to be
friends, you and me.

- We're meant to be enemies. Did
you know that?

- Do you want some?

- What's your dad like? What's he
like? Is he a good man?

- You've never thought he wasn't?

- And you're proud of him?

- Aren't you proud of yours?

- Is it really horrible in the
camp?

- How dare you talk to people in
the house.

- How dare you!

- Are you eating?

- Have you been stealing food?

- Answer me!

- No, sir. He gave it to me.

- He's my friend.

- What?

- Little man, do you know this
Jew?

- Do you know this Jew?

- No, I just walked in, and he was
helping himself.

- I've never seen him before in my
life.

- You, finish cleaning the
glasses.

- When I come back, we'll have a
little chat about what happens to rats who steal. Come away.

- New arrivals here are happy to
discover that life in the camp is not all work.

- And that there's ample
opportunity for leisure also.

- At the end of their day at the
ironmongery - or the build or boot factory, The workers can enjoy the many
forms of pastime that the camp has to offer.

- Organised sport is very popular.

- Those that don't play certainly
enjoy watching.

- At the end of the working day, the
centrally located café is the ideal place for friends and families to join
together for a hearty and nutritious meal.

- The children, in particular, enjoy
the pastries and cakes on offer. In the evenings, the occasional music
concerts, either by visiting orchestras or, indeed, by talented musicians
from within the camp itself, are always well attended.

- Other recreations include reading
in the library, pottery, cookery, art and horticulture for adult and child
alike.

- Almost any activity one could wish
for is available within the camp.

- Splendid.

- Bravo. Excellent.

- Thank you.

- Goodbye, little man.

- Shmuel! Shmuel!

- I don't understand.

- I saw a film about the camp, and
it looked so nice.

- I don't know why I did it.

- Gretel and everyone were saying
all these things, and that soldier's so scary.

- Been coming here for days, but
you were never here.

- I thought maybe we weren't
friends any more.

- Shmuel, I'm really sorry for
what I did. We are still friends, aren't we?

- Where's Kurt these days? I
haven't seen him for ages.

- Who's Kurt?

- Lieutenant Kotler.

- He's been moved to the front.

- It was felt that his youth and
enthusiasm would be put to better use there.

- Herr Kommandant, telephone.

- In actual fact, Gretel, he was
sent there because he failed to inform the authorities of his father's lack
of loyalty to the Party.

- Which was his duty, I might add.

- Which was his bad luck.

- Bad luck?

- Well, bad luck that it was his
father who was disloyal, and not his mother.

- One presumably doesn't have to
report one's mother.

- What?

- When will Pavel be back?

- Mum?

- Never, stupid.

- It's Father. They've been
bombed.

- Grandmother's dead.

- "...the victory which You have
obtained for us and for all who sleep in Him, "keep us who are still in
the body in everlasting fellowship "with all that wait for Thee on
earth, "and with all that are around Thee in heaven, "in union with
Him who is the resurrection "and the life, who liveth and reigneth with
Thee and the Holy Ghost, "ever one God, world without end. Amen."

- He can't have that on there. She
wouldn't have wanted it.

- He does.

- "Almighty God, who by the
death of..."

- Have you ever been to a funeral?

- My grandma and grandpa both died
just after we got here, but there weren't any funerals.

- That one there to there.

- They both died at the same time?

- What of?

- I don't know.

- Papa said they must have caught something
on the way here.

- They had to go to a hospital as
soon as we arrived.

- We didn't see them again.

- This is fun.

- Wish we could do something a bit
more exciting, though.

- That one there to there.

- This one?

- This one?

- No, that one.

- This one to here?

- No, there!

- To here?

- No.

- Here?

- No.

- I don't want you to go away
again.

- No. Neither do I.

- You can't behave like this!

- You're questioning my behaviour?

- It can't continue!

- I know. I can't stand this any
more, Ralf.

- I can't stay here and be a part
of this.

- Don't you think there will be
questions?

- Questions?

- Well, now, what does it say about
my ability to carry out my work if I cannot control my own family?

- Work? Is that what you call it?

- Pull yourself together, woman.

- Right. Just ignore it. Ignore
it.

- Ignore the fact that the man I
married is a monster!

- Even your own mother couldn't
love you.

- Are you happy here?

- Yes. Very.

- And you, Gretel?

- Well, I was, but I do miss home.
I miss my friends.

- Yes, I'm sure. And you, too,
Bruno. You must miss those friends of yours.

- No. Not any more, really.

- I suppose the real question is, if
the opportunity arose, would you prefer to live somewhere else?

- Back home?

- No. Not Berlin. Not yet.

- Somewhere safe, say Aunt
Lottie's in Heidelberg, for example.

- All of us? You as well?

- No. That won't be possible just
yet, I'm afraid.

- I must stayand complete my work here.

- See, at the moment, your mother
is finding it...

- She just feels right now you
need to spend some time elsewhere.

- Would you like that?

- I'm afraid, Bruno, in life, we
often have to do things we don't want to do.

- The important thing isyour
mother does not feel that this is an appropriate place for you to be spending
your childhood, and the more I think about it, the more I realise she's very
probably right.

- But, Dad...

- No!

- It's time for you to move away.

- Is everything all right?

- We can't find Papa.

- He went on a different work duty
with some of the men, and they haven't come back.

- I've got some bad news, too. I'm
going away.

- How long for this time?

- That's why it's bad. It's
forever, I think.

- Mum says this is no place for
children, which is just stupid.

- When do you go?

- Tomorrow. After lunch.

- So, I won't ever see you again?

- Yes, you will. You can come on
holiday to Berlin if you like, when everybody's getting on with each other
again.

- I wish I could've helped you find
your dad.

- I really want to make up for
letting you down like I did.

- That would have done it,
wouldn't it? Helping you find your dad?

- Would've been great. Like a
secret mission.

- I could dig under.

- What? With that?

- No, but I could bring something.

- You don't want to come over
here.

- Look.

- I could come through to your
side.

- What's the point in that?

- Your dad's not going to be over
here, is he?

- But I'd stick out though,
wouldn't I, if I came through?

- I don't look like you.

- You could look like me, though.

- If you dressed like me and
shaved your hair off.

- I'm not shaving my hair off.

- You could cover it with a cap.

- My pyjamas are a different
colour.

- I could bring some. There's a
hut full of them, thousands of them.

- Would you do it, though?

- I want to do it.

- Would you dare do it, though?

- I want to help you find your
dad.

- I've got to go.

- Tomorrow, then?

- ll bring an extra-big sandwich.

- And don't forget the pyjamas!

- Bruno?

- Mum, can I go and play on the
swing?

- Bruno...

- It's my last chance.

- All right. Go on then.

- I thought you weren't coming!

- I'm sorry. It wasn't easy to get
away.

- I'm not meant to be out here
today. You forgot the pyjamas!

- Did you bring the sandwich?

- Would I let you down?

- Shmuel.

- Here.

- How do I look?

- Right. Let's get going.

- Bruno?

- That's enough.

- Let's go and find your dad.

- Come on!

- Master Bruno?

- Shmuel.

- Can we go to the café or
something?

- Café?

- Maybe I should go home.

- What about Papa?

- Yeah.

- We'll check our hut first.

- Bruno?

- Come on.

- Papa?

- Up! Up! Get up!

- What's happening?

- I don't know.

- We go on marches sometimes.

- Move! Up, up!

- Move, move!

- Bruno!

- He must still be outside
somewhere, ma'am.

- Bruno!

- Bruno?

- Move!

- Quickly!

- Get up!

- Get up. You must!

- Move them out!

- ...which means that our weekly
capabilities would be almost tripled, so, therefore, by the end of the
summer...

- Ralf.

- Elsa, I'm in a meeting.

- Bruno's missing.

- Come on!

- Wait here!

- Come on!

- Move! Move!

- Join the queue!

- Come on, you!

- Bruno!

- Move it!

- Go on.

- Bruno!

- It's all right. I think we're
just waiting in here until the rain stops.